Apponequet 59, Dedham 55: Top seed rallies late against boys hoop

Friday

Mar 2, 2018 at 2:22 PMMar 4, 2018 at 12:46 PM

Keith Pearson kpearson@wickedlocal.com

For the first three-plus quarters it didn’t seem like an upset in the making as the ninth-seeded Dedham High boys basketball team opened up a double-digit lead over top-seeded Apponequet simply by being the better team at both ends of the floor.

Over the final 6:30, however, the Lakers showed that their unbeaten record was no fluke as they came roaring back, closing the game on a 27-11 run to take a 59-55 victory in the MIAA Div. 3 South quarterfinals. The Marauders’ first season in the Tri-Valley League, which included a Small Division title, ends at 15-7.

“I don’t think we could have played any better,” Dedham coach Chris Fraioli said. “I’m really proud of our guys. They gave us everything. We made mistakes, but we made mistakes all year, but I’m really, really proud of them.”

The 6-for-16 from the free-throw line including three missed front ends of one-and-ones in the second half was a glaring problem for the Marauders, but something that had also been a weakness throughout the year.

Adam Seablom carried Apponequet down the stretch scoring 19 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play in transition off a missed free throw with 11.9 seconds left to give the Lakers the lead for good.

Without a timeout, Dedham quickly got the ball up the floor and got a bucket inside from Juran Ligonde with six seconds left, but the Lakers were able to get the ball inbounded without problem and Wyatt Pinto rattled in a deep 3 as time expired.

Dedham led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but a deep 3 from Seablom with 53 seconds left in the third quarter pulled Apponequet to within 36-32. After just six points in the first half, the Lakers senior had eight in the quarter and was just setting the table for the fourth.

The Marauders managed to bump the lead to 40-32 before the end of the quarter as JoJo Powers drove the lane and Mike Mansour (8 points) made two free throws. The lead reached a dozen once again as Powers hit a floater in the lane and then scored in transition off a steal, but was unable to finish off a three-point play.

Seablom reeled off the game’s next 10 points. He drove to the basket to pull Apponequet to within 44-42 with 3:10 left. Clay Meunier made one of two free throws to cut Dedham’s lead to one and cap an 11-0 run.

“We gave him too much space,” Fraioli said of Seablom. “Him going downhill is tremendous and we struggled with the pick and roll – we were going under when we were supposed to be going over. Hey, they made one more shot than we did.”

Off the Meunier free throw, Ligonde stopped the bleeding by getting out into the open floor and taking a feed from Dylan Maida for a basket. Dedham had a 51-46 lead with 54.7 seconds left as Ligonde had a nice move in the lane against Pinto.

A bucket from Shaham Zahir cut the Dedham lead back to 52-51 with 27.8 seconds left as the Lakers used their final timeout. Tim Johnson stole the inbounds pass and fed Seablom to give Apponequet its first lead of the contest, 53-52.

Maida was fouled at the other end with 16.1 seconds to play, made the first to tie the game and Dedham used its final timeout to set up its defensive plan. Maida was off the mark with the second and Andy Johnson grabbed the rebound and hit Seablom around midcourt with an outlet pass. He drove to the basket and was fouled giving him the three-point play.

“Our guys stayed and battled (for the rebound). All of a sudden (Johnson) found me, I turned around and I see the open the floor. I’ve got quickness and I took it,” Seablom said. “I knew we were in the bonus so any type of touch is a potential for points, so I took it all the way to the hoop.”

The Marauders opened the game the way they finished off Tuesday’s win against Monomoy, unable to miss from the floor. They hit their first five shots from the floor to open the game with a 12-2 advantage.

Even though the hot start faded, Dedham’s work on the offensive glass, particularly by Ligonde, who finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds, kept the Marauders in front.

Ligonde is one of eight seniors that the Marauders will need to replace, along with Maida, David Logan, Brandon Ruiz, Brian Tavares, Jason Leonard, Corey Kilroy and Mark Rella.

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